Review: The Last Echo by Kimberly Derting

Violet kept her morbid ability to sense dead bodies a secret from everyone except her family and her childhood-best-friend-turned-boyfriend, Jay Heaton. That is until forensic psychologist Sara Priest discovered Violet's talent and invited her to use her gift to track down murderers. Now, as she works with an eclectic group of individuals--including mysterious and dangerously attractive Rafe--it's Violet's job to help those who have been murdered by bringing their killers to justice.

When Violet discovers the body of a college girl killed by "the girlfriend collector" she is determined to solve the case. But now the serial killer is on the lookout for a new "relationship" and Violet may have caught his eye....

*Review may contain spoilers.*

The Last Echo was, by far, the best book in The Body Finder series. It had a little bit of a darker feel to it. I could tell almost right away that it had a more ominous tone, and I knew something terrible was going to happen. Also, I *may* have read the jacket for Dead Silence, and accidentally read the part about Violet being kidnapped. Oops!

Another thing I noticed almost immediately was the writing. Derting’s writing has definitely improved from the first two books. I’m not saying the writing in the first two books was bad – absolutely not saying that! Her writing has always been good, but it felt like it flowed better in The Last Echo.

On to the book itself, the opening scene kind of gave me chills. I was honestly a little creeped out (like I said, this book definitely had a darker, more ominous tone to it). I loved seeing Violet interacting with “The Team.” It was a far cry from the first two books, where she had to hide her abilities. It was especially in contrast to The Body Finder (book one), where her Uncle Stephen did everything in his power to keep her name off all the police reports.

The sections told in the killer’s POV were amazingly haunting. I felt like I was balancing on a tight rope; sometimes, I leaned towards hating and despising this cruel, twisted human being. And then sometimes I felt bad for this person. You could feel this person’s loneliness, their desire to be loved – and then you felt sick to your stomach for feeling bad for a serial killer. The writing in these sections was incredible, and Derting really did a great job of putting the reader into the mind of the killer.

Okay… So… This part is hard for me to write, because I feel so bad. But it needs to be said:

I am Team Rafe.

Jay was so much better in this book. I really didn’t like his character in The Body Finder or Desires of the Dead. I found him to be overbearing, overprotective (borderline possessive), and just down right mean. But he really changed from Desires of the Dead to The Last Echo. He calmed down a lot. His over-protectiveness didn’t feel overwhelming this time; it felt like he honestly just cared for Violet and wanted her to be safe. He also backed down from his insane jealousy over Rafe. But the thing is… Even though I liked Jay way, way more this time around, I still just can’t picture him as more than Violet’s best friend. I just can’t, no matter how hard I try. I absolutely love Rafe, and I want Violet to end up with Rafe. Sorry, Jay!

On the topic of Rafe: whoa to the mind-blowing revelations and backstory. I loved it so much! I really enjoyed getting to know Rafe better and it made me like him even more.

The consequences Violet faced due to the work she was doing with The Team were heartbreaking, yet inevitable. I actually cried at the end. And the epilogue.. Don’t even get me started. I wanted to kick someone… I can’t say any more, or I’ll get into spoiler territory, and I’m trying to keep the spoilers minimal.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Last Echo. It was a creepy, fun read with some amazing writing. There are several things that happened that have me wondering what Violet will do next, and how she will deal with the consequences of those things.